Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Favourite Twenty Songs Of 2011...

Lana Del Ray – Video Games

2.       Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers
3.       Anna Calvi – Desire




James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream




5.       M83 – Midnight City



6.       Panda Bear – Slow Motion



7.       Cults – You Know What I Mean



8.       Friends – I’m His Girl



9.       Foster the People – Houdini



10.   Beirut – East Harlem



11.   Alex Turner – Piledriver Waltz



12.   Wild Beasts – Bed of Nails



13.   Austra – Lose It



14.   Battles – Ice Cream



15.   TV on the Radio – Will Do



16.   Gang Gang Dance – Romance Layers



17.   Dum Dum Girls – Coming Down



18.   Kindness – Cyan

19.   Neon Indian – The Blindside Kiss





PJ Harvey – The Words That Maketh Murder

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sound Of The Waves Collide...

Just Create To Create...

‎"You may not be a Picasso or Mozart but you don’t have to be. Just create to create. Create to remind yourself you’re still alive. Make stuff to inspire others to make something too. Create to learn a bit more about yourself." 


- Frederick Terrala

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Mini & Mum: Down Syndrome

Mini & Mum: Down Syndrome: An online petition to help get March 21st recognised by the UN as World Down Syndrome Day which should raise awareness and confront stereoty...

Monday, September 12, 2011

Sometimes I Want To Disappear...

We Drink To Die, We Drink Tonight...

713...

Ticket For One Please...

Usually I'm most excited around January/February time for films as there is the excitement of all the big Oscar contenders being released and it’s the best time to go to the cinema. At the moment however, the same kind of excitement is building up as there seems to be an inordinate amount of exciting films coming out in the coming months. 


Here are some trailers of the films I’m most excited about seeing...


Jane Eyre


This is the first film I shall be rushing along to see. Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books and is very precious to me. The casting of Michael Fassbender as Mr Rochester is thrilling and I think Mia Wasikowska will be a wonderful Jane. Can’t wait to enjoy the repressed romance of it all.

Very, very excited.






Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


I am sucker for an exciting trailer and this to me is an amazing trailer – the music is just brillian, it’s all very intriguing. An amazing cast is also a bonus – so many individual actors to get excited about here. This will be the film of the Autumn.





The Ides of March


I am a massive fan of Ryan Gosling – sure he’s very good looking, but I also think he’s an amazing actor (see ‘The Believer’) and I think he’s got the potential to be one of the best actors of his generation. This film looks like a brilliant thriller, great cast – it has everything going for it.





The Rum Diary


Is Johnny Depp ageing? Because it really doesn’t seem he is. This looks like it could be rather enjoyable and how beautiful is Amber Heard?!


Bruce Robinson of ‘Withnail and I’ fame is behind it so that’s reason enough to go check it out.





Like Crazy


Always a sucker for a bit of romance and this looks rather lovely. I also love the two leads – Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin. It looks like a heartbreaker.





A Dangerous Method


The fact that this film stars Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel and Viggo Mortensen is frankly enough to sell it to me, but it also looks rather interesting – if rather naughty. I don’t think I’ll be taking my mother to see this (she does love Viggo though, so I can see her asking me to take her to see it. Awkward...).


One thing that might grate – Keira Knightley’s accent. I do like her though – it took me a while to get there, but since ‘Atonement’, I love her.





Shame


Michael Fassbender’s at it again, starring in another randy film about a man obsessed with sex. Fassbender just won the best actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for his role in this, and it’s directed by the award-winning director, Steve McQueen who directed Fassbender in the very amazing Hunger.


Also features the talented and lovely Carey Mulligan.


No trailer yet but here’s a clip from the film.





The Descendants


I’m not entirely sure how sold I am on this trailer but I do love George Clooney and you don’t often see him in a role like this, playing the bumbling, hapless father so I’m interested to see how he gets on with it.





Melancholia


I love Kirsten Dunst and I’m thrilled to see her getting such plaudits for this film – she deserves to be a big star, in really brilliant movies. Again, some brilliant casting here – I love Kiefer Sutherland always, Charlotte Gainsbourg is one of my favourites and I shall be swooning over the very handsome Alexander SkarsgÃ¥rd.





We Need To Talk About Kevin


I really can’t emphasis enough just how excited I am about this film. I can’t wait to see it, yet I dread it in a way, such was the effect the book had on me. The casting of Tilda Swinton seems to be to be spot on and I look forward to being thoroughly disturbed by this. (If you haven’t read the book already, I recommend you do. Amazing.)





Tyrannosaur


Another film that won’t be offering much in the way of laughs is Paddy Considine’s directorial debut Tyrannosaur. It boasts an incredibly talented cast – Peter Mullan in particular is just one of the most talented actors/directors going (see ‘My Name is Joe’) and while this film will most likely depress the hell out of me, I think it’s a must-see.





Drive


More Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan – no bad thing. Again, another strong cast and this looks rather stylish and exciting – one I think I can take mum to see (she loves a good thriller - if it’s violent, even better).





Haywire


Another exciting looking trailer, featuring Michael Fassbender yet again – seriously, when does this man sleep? Has he just been working non-stop? Ewan McGregor also stars – he too seems to have quite a few films coming out. Impressive cast and again, it looks dynamic and stylish.





50/50


This is the film that has me torn. On one hand, I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I think he’s a great actor and very appealing (and also very very cute), and it looks like this film deals with the subject matter well. On the other hand, I’ve watched one of my best friends go through (and most importantly survive) cancer treatment and just watching this trailer brings back some pretty upsetting memories of that time. I don’t think I could make it through this film. I do admire the humour they bring to this topic – while cancer treatment is no joke, there were some hilarious moments and we tried to see the funny side of things, so I appreciate that approach.


The Sound Of The Waves Collide...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The National Campaign for the Arts...

"We believe in a society that values creativity, imagination and expression. We believe the arts generate growth and tourism. We believe the arts enhance our reputation. We believe the arts enrich our lives. We believe in the value of the arts.


The National Campaign for the Arts ensures that the arts are on local and national government agendas and are recognized as a vital part of contemporary Irish life."


Read more on the NCFA website and there's more information on the campaign in this article from The Irish Times.

Oliver And The New Age Mystic...

"A British comedy about a boy desperate to lose his virginity and stop his mother running off with a new age mystic."


Seriously, do you need more to entice you to watch 'Submarine'? It has a new age mystic!

I saw it a few months ago at the IFI  and totally and utterly fell in love with it. The line above pretty much sums up the plot but there's much to love in this film. The script is hilarious and moving, it looks beautiful and the acting is wonderful. Craig Roberts is just brilliant as the main character Oliver Tate, who has a rather grand impression of himself. Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor are perfectly cast as his parents (Taylor is particularly hilarious when he's trying to give Oliver 'fatherly' advice) and Paddy Considine is hilarious as the new age mystic who threatens to seduce Oliver's mother away from her family. Yasmin Paige is very good as Jordana, the rather stand-offish girl Oliver falls for, and the soundtrack is amazing......I'll stop now. Just watch this film if you haven't already. If you have seen it, go watch it again.


The Secret Bookstore Guy...

"It’s a continuation of just me being a bookseller, the way I want to be."



The Paris Review had a lovely piece today on a secret bookstore that is tucked away in the Upper East Side, New York. I think it's a wonderful story and I'd love to track this guy down if I ever make it to New York! At the same time, it's very sad to hear that second-hand bookshops can't survive in New York any more because of high rent - at least there are people like Michael Seidenberg keeping the second hand bookshop alive.


And that's a wonderful thing.


The Secret Bookstore


There's No Place Like Here: Brazenhead Books from Etsy on Vimeo.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

It's About The Little Things In Life...

...like coming into work in the morning and find a little treat on your desk, in the form of a chocolate from Belgium, kindly gifted to you by your sweet friend...


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Galway Film Fleadh 2011...

The Galway Film Fleadh is one of my favourite things about Galway. It's the one festival you can always rely on to have an exciting line up, with something for everyone and this year was no different. The programme was brilliant, there was so much I wanted to see, but I had to narrow it down to eight. There were more films I'd like to have seen but overall, I was delighted with the ones I picked.

Here's a wee look at those films.


I began my film fleadh adventure with 'Tomboy' directed by Céline Sciamma, the story of Laure, a ten year old tomboy who moves to a new town with her family and allows the local children to believe she's a boy called Michael. She becomes accepted by the group and a young girl called Lisa develops a crush on her. Her younger sister becomes implicated in the lie and with the threat of the summer ending and school beginning; her fantasy life begins to fall apart as it becomes clear it will be difficult to continue this deceit. I thought this was a warm, intriguing film - it was funny in parts (the younger sister is particularly hilarious) but I just felt this overwhelming sadness whilst watching it, I just felt so sorry for this kid that she had this conflict between who she wanted to be and who everyone else wanted her to be. I felt like the film left the issue unresolved and the ending wasn't quite satisfactory but overall it was a brave film about a difficult issue and I loved the relationship between the two sisters - it reminded me a great deal of my own relationship with my sister, particularly when we were children and the way in which no matter what happens, your sister will always back you up in the end.






"I have an only daughter who dresses like a man and drinks whisky."

My next stop was Gigola, a film exploring the relationships the enigmatic Georgia strikes up as she roams the cafés and bars of 60s Paris, based on the cult series of novels written by Laure Charpentier. The film stars Lou Doillon which was my initial draw to the film (I've referred to her before on this blog) - she's just so beautiful and intriguing to look at, and really, she was the best thing about this film. Georgia, or Gigola, is heartbroken after the suicide of her lover, and spends her time tempting prostitutes away from their pimps, seducing women and engaging with local criminals. I've been struggling as to whether I liked this film or not, and to be honest, I didn't like it. I just felt rather uncomfortable throughout - I'm no prude but I did feel rather like I was watching a soft-porn film in a seedy cinema somewhere, and while really it was just silly fun, I just couldn't get into it. That said, it looked gorgeous and Lou Doillon was captivating in the lead role, but I'm not in a rush to see it again, thankyouverymuch.


'Mad Bastards' couldn't have been any further from the pomp and frivolity of 60s Paris if it tried. It's a fairly grim and tough tale of an Aboriginal community, struggling to survive on the peripheries, plagued by alcoholism and abuse. It focuses on TJ, a tough guy who is trying to pick up the pieces and reconnect with his son, who himself  is struggling to do the right thing, all under the watchful gaze of the local cop, Tex, who is trying to do his best for his family and the community. None of the actors came from acting backgrounds, adding a rawness and a certain heart to their performances. The Q & A session with the director was particularly enlightening as he revealed how the film was a collaborative effort; a lot of the script was based on actual events, which the cast shared with him from their own experiences. This added another much-needed dimension to the film and it gave the film an added resonance.  The soundtrack is fantastic - the band responsible for it turn up in several scenes, akin to the Soggy Bottom Boys in 'Oh Brother, Where Art Thou' and the film is all the richer for it.


David Mackenzie's 'Perfect Sense' was a thought-provoking film, looking at a pandemic which affects first the emotions, and then the senses, while in the midst of it all, Susan, an epidemiologist, and Michael, a chef, fall in love. The film is incredibly stylish, beautiful to look at, brilliantly shot and left me thinking 'what if this actually happened?! What if we lost our senses?' It was an interesting idea, well conceived and executed. It reminded me of Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness", a film that deals with a similar issue, and funnily enough, the only film I've ever walked out of. I thought "Perfect Sense" dealt with the subject better - it didn't shove the horror of the situation down your throat, it was more subtle, allowing the viewer more space in which to imagine what this might be like if it actually happened in real life. Ewan McGregor was wonderful in it, while Eva Green was perhaps a little cold in the role, but at the same time, I bought into their relationship and was genuinely moved by it.  Rather beautiful, I recommend this film highly.


Mackenzie directed Ewan McGregor in another film, "Young Adam", a film I would also recommend - not the most comfortable film in the world to watch, it's murky and grim, but it's a film that lingers in the memory long after you watch it.



A lotus eater is described by the film-makers as 'a person who spends time indulging in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns'.

This aptly sums up Alexandra McGuinness' directorial debut "Lotus Eaters." This film was pretentious and vacant to the extremes - it was all about the 'beautiful people', all model-looking people, in expensive clothing with "desirable" hedonistic lifestyles. And while this would ordinarily be enough to send me demented, I actually really enjoyed this film. It's beautiful to look at, I totally lost myself in the imagery, I loved that it was shot in black and white and I just allowed myself to be swept along by the glittery, glamorous wonder of it all. I know already I will buy it on DVD, and play it over and over, probably with the sound off, just to look at the beauty of it again. There is no plot really to speak of but it still managed to hold my attention, and I found the lead actress Antonia Campbell-Hughes particularly engaging - again, she was just beautiful to look at, fragile and innocent and all very sweet. As McGuinness' directorial debut, it was a stylish and assured beginning and I'll certainly keep an eye out for her future efforts.

God help me (and them) if I was trapped in a room with any of those characters though.


My highlight of the festival was Terry McMahon's "Charlie Casanova". Filthy, disgusting, sordid, ugly, claustrophobic and utterly brilliant. This film blew me away, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it in my life. The plot is simple - Charlie Barnum, a charming and seductive sociopath, possessing the gift of the gab, runs over a working class girl and consequently decides to abdicate all responsibility for his actions, letting his fate lie on a deck of playing cards.  It was incredibly claustrophobic - you felt you were confined in a small space with these horrible, vile people and it made my skin crawl.  Emmett Scanlan was hugely impressive in the lead - he threw everything into the part - he was uncomfortable to watch at times, such was the intensity of his performance. I felt like I was watching something quite special, something different. It shocked me, appalled me and repulsed me and yet I just want to watch it again, I want that experience again.  I felt suffocated by it and I've been rewatching the trailer all day, trying to recreate that feeling...it's very odd. You will either love or hate this film, there is no inbetween.


I loved it.

It astonishes me that this is McMahon's directorial debut, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. The film was introduced by Janet Pierson, head of the SXSW festival, which was in itself, very exciting. Her enthusiasm and passion for the film let us know that we were in for something rather extraordinary.


Dancing Across Borders was a light relief from the heady and seedy onslaught of Saturday night. Anne Bass' documentary followed the story of Sokvannara (Sy) Sar who was spotted at the age of 16 by Bass during a trip to Cambodia. She saw him dancing and she was so moved and impressed by him, she felt his talent could not be squandered and so sponsored his move to America where he was trained by the best in the business. The clips of Sy dancing are sublime, it’s impossible to watch his dancing without being impressed and moved by it. I enjoyed the documentary, but I felt troubled by the fact that Sy himself does not seem happy, I got the sense he'd be happier at home in Cambodia, that his dancing does not mean as much to him as it does to those around him. Still though, if you love dance, you should watch this film.


Rounding up my time at the Fleadh, was Tom Tykwer's "Three" - a film telling the story of a couple who both fall in love with the same man, resulting in a pregnancy where the paternity of the child is unknown. I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting much going into this film, as soon as I read the word 'tragicomical' used to describe it, alarm bells started ringing but I was pleasantly surprised!  The characters were charming and funny, and I found myself instantly drawn into the tale. It was very enjoyable to watch, it really felt like a collective experience as everyone in the cinema giggled or groaned in turn at the twists the tale took, and that really added to it. There seems to have been a running theme in the films I chose this year - the idea of fluid sexuality and challenging the destiny biologically determined for you. This film was an interesting take on relationships, sexuality and life itself. A rather perfect and satisfying end to an epic Fleadh.




If You Go Down To The Woods Today...



Let Me Show My Darling What That Means...

Very pretty video. Plus gorgeous vocals from Tom Fleming, who I have to say, looks rather fetching in his cloak...

Amongst the Weeds and Ropes...

Photo taken by me in Bantry...

Heaven On A Plate...

Photo taken by me in Ard Bia...

Feeling A Bit Flash...





Monday, June 20, 2011

Sound Is The Colour I Know...

"Another rose wilts in East Harlem
And uptown downtown a thousand miles between us
She's waiting for the night to fall
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time.


Sound is the colour I know, oh,
Sound is what keeps me looking for your eyes,
And sound of your breath in the cold,
And oh, the sound will bring me home again."

I've Got A Thing For You, You've Got A Thing For Me...

Amazing video and I just can't stop listening to this song...

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Trip The Light Fantastic...

artdaily.org is fast turning into one of my favourite websites. I’ve subscribed to its daily newsletter and its always full of interesting articles about exhibitions and general art news from all over the world. While this is all very lovely, it makes me sad that I can’t see most of these exhibitions without taking myself off on some sort of mad tour around the globe. If I were to do such a thing, here are some of the exhibitions I would go see….

First off, I’d go to Paris and check out this 'The Art of Paper' exhibition at the Musée du Louvre. It’s basically a tribute to paper and the role it plays in the creation of art. It’s a collection of works on paper spanning from the 15th century to present day and it’s organized into 5 distinct sections, emphasising the differences between classic and modern day approaches and show the variety of ways in which the paper can be used:
  • Papers and colours
  • Assembled paper, multiplied paper
  • Found paper, selected paper
  • Transfers and transparencies
  • Tortured paper, glorified paper
artdaily.org describes each distinct section in its article. I would especially be interested in the ‘assembled paper, multiplied paper’ section having dabbled in the past in the practice of collage, or layering different drawings or fragments of drawings on each other and also the ‘found paper, selected paper’ section as it looks at the idea of the choice of paper itself playing a role in the overall intention of the piece. Plus, both sections look at the work of Picasso so that would be a big draw for me.

From Paris, I would jet over to London to check out the Miró retrospective in the Tate Modern. I'm a big Miró fan - I just find his work so engaging and exciting to look at, especially when you've the opportunity to see several of his paintings in one location - it's intriguing to see how his work develops. The Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona is one of my favourite galleries – the building itself is exciting to experience, but it’s just brilliant to get to see so many of Miró’s works in one location. I have fond memories of visiting it with my sister, and enjoying a drink in the café after hours of poring over his work...




The Tate Modern is showing 150 of his paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints spanning 60 years of his career. Many of his iconic pieces will be on show, adding to an exhibition that will display Miró's strong personal and national identity, the energy of his paintings, the innocence that belies a strong sense of humanity and his ability to capture the mood of a nation beleaguered by a civil war.

Perhaps while I’m in London, I would pay a visit to Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art sale and buy a couple of Miró pieces for myself….wishful thinking.

While I was in that part of the world, I’d nip over to the Tate Britain (which I’ve never been to sadly), I would check out this exhibition The Vorticists: Manifesto for a Modern World’ which explores the world of the Vorticists (no kidding), the artists behind a brief but important modernist movement  in the years 1914-1918. The Vorticist style is characterised by being thoroughly modern for the time, embracing machine-age forms and energetic geometric imagery. The painter Wyndham Lewis was the guiding light for the movement, and his work is shown as well pieces by others including Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, William Roberts, Frederick Etchells and Edward Wadsworth. The exhibition explores the relationship and exchange of ideas between this British avant-garde movement and the American avant-garde in New York.

I would end my journey in Chicago, Illinois where I would check out the ‘Avant-Garde Art in Everyday Life’ exhibition in the Art Institute of Chicago which showcases the work of 6 European artists - John Heartfield, Gustav Klutsis, El Lissitzky, Ladislav Sutnar, Karel Teige, and Piet Zwart – who believed that they could help restructure society by redesigning common or utilitarian items, from postage stamps to buildings, from about 1910 onwards. This vast exhibition (there’s over 300 pieces) explores the long-lasting influence of this movement as explained in the artdaily.org article:

“Working in the 1920s and 1930s, specifically in central and eastern Europe, they were fully informed about the history of art and the state of the world around them, and they formed networks to circulate ideas for changing that world through creative interventions of all kinds in everyday life. Books, prints, posters, table settings, postage stamps, illustrated magazines, clothing, exhibition installations, building proposals–these artists energetically and zealously reached into every conceivable creative domain. They traded ideas through the mail, sharing published journal essays and original works in photography and graphic design. Across the boundaries of media, disciplines, and nationalities, these avant-garde artists presciently set the stage for today’s modern communications and advertising industries.”


Now if only I had the funds for such a trip....  



Wednesday, June 15, 2011

When The Darkness Comes...

Rather obsessed with this track today. AUSTRA are playing the Róisín in July so I'm definitely going to check them out then, should be a good gig...

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Whatever You Love, You Are...

I'm working on a couple of proper-written-words posts at the moment, but while I'm working on those, music videos will have to fill the gap.

Still obsessively going through all the lost gems on my Zen and here are some highlights! *cue drumroll*



A rather trippy video for a live version of Akron/Family's 'Running, Returning'...



'I Really Should've Gone Out Last Night' by Dirty Three from the wonderfully titled album "Whatever You Love, You Are." This is ridiculously gorgeous tune. If you can listen to that track without feeling like your heart might just might burst because it aches so much from the bruising beauty of it all, well then...you're just dead on the inside. I can't stress how much I love this band - Warren Ellis is a genius.



A little bit more peppy - 'It'5' by Architecture in Helsinki. This was my ringtone for a while - not one of my better ideas. I was in the Early Learning Centre store one day when my mum rang me. Not the best place to be when you have the words 'stranger danger' blaring from your phone...


The video does make me super happy though.



A bit more contemplative again (and less dodgy in children's stores), this is 'End of Music' by Do Make Say Think...



'Spring and by Summer Fall' by Blonde Redhead from one of my favourite albums "23" - lots of great songs to choose from there. 



To end with a bang, this is HEALTH's 'Triceratops' from "You Will Love Each Other." This band will be one of the major highlights of Electric Picnic '11. People will die. 



Sick.

1 October 1942...

One of the most outstanding live bands...



(If you're interested, the Lisbon Maru was a freighter used by the Japanese during WWII as a troopship and to transport prisoners-of-war between China and Japan. It sank in 1942 when it was targeted by USS Grouper (SS-214). On board, there was almost 2,000 British prisoners of war who had been captured after the fall of Hong Kong in December 1941 but unfortunately the ship did not have the appropriate signs to indicate to allied forces who was onboard. When the boat sank, many died and those who tried to swim away from the wreckage were shot by the Japanese, resulting in about 800 to 850 deaths. So there you go. Nice little story.)

Monday, June 13, 2011

We Know A Place...

My MP3 player was out of action for a while and just got it back up and running today, so I've spent the afternoon rediscovering songs I haven't been able to listen to in a while (I don't have my music backed up - how dumb is that? I will rectify it though). Some highlights so far...


Was listening to the Arcade Fire EP and came across this. I'd forgotten what a gem of a song it is. I tend to not listen to Neon Bible as much as the other albums so I'd forgotten about this song somewhat.


A Red House Painter track from their last album 'Old Ramon'. A sleepy, summer afternoon kind of song.



And finally 'So Close' by Six by Seven, taken from their album 'The Way I Feel Today'. I can only listen to this song every few months or so, it has a ridiculous effect on me that I can't explain. Lots of memories. One of those songs.

Alright Already...

Romance Layers...

Friday, June 10, 2011

Gold Panda Go...

Saw Gold Panda playing in the Róisín Dubh last night with my friend Claire. It was really great to be at a gig where the place was packed and everyone was dancing, rather than just standing about, nodding a bit. That said, we did have to move to avoid one particularly enthusiastic guy who kept waving his arms about, giving us a good ol' whiff of BO. Lovely. We followed it up by dancing like loons in the upstairs bar for the rest of the night - absolutely brilliant. I think we both needed a really fun, girlie night to blow the cobwebs away and that was just the ticket. 


This track was the highlight of pretty excellent set...

Thursday, June 9, 2011

We Put Our Feet Just Where They Had, Had To Go...

One of the highlights of 2011 will most certainly be seeing Beirut play at this year's Electric Picnic. I thought for the longest time they must be Eastern European or some such, but they're actually an American band, influenced by Eastern European and Balkan folk music. Their 2006 album Gulag Orkestar is one of my all time favourites, and I can't wait for their new album The Rip Tide, released later this summer. 





All About The Voice...

Obviously Hayden Thorpe's singing is outstanding but for me, it's all about Tom Fleming's voice. I'm not even sure I can really explain what it is about that makes it stand out for me. I guess maybe while Thorpe's voice is incredibly beautiful, Fleming's voice is more intimate, more compelling. It feels like there's a history there. In any case, they make for a stunning combination. I've only recently discovered Wild Beasts but the more I listen to them, the more I love the songs. They also played a fantastic set at the Forbidden Fruit Festival in Dublin recently which cemented them even further as a band to watch out for.


The boys earn bonus points in the following video for exceedingly jaunty outfits.

The Anticipation...

Thomas is on a journey. Where did it begin? What voices does he hear? And what will they tell him to do? 



And so the excitement builds for the premiere of Enda Walsh's 'Misterman' in next month's Galway Arts Festival. This promo gives little away but yet it completely intrigues me (or is it just the sight of Cillian Murphy looking all moody in an anorak that's having that effect?) I've heard from a reliable source that the score is outstanding, and with such talent involved, surely this won't be a disappointment?

Delicious...

And The Fluorescence Is Blinding...

It seems I can't go to a concert these days without it becoming an explosion of fluorescent colours, ticker tape and giant balloons. Not that I'm complaining of course! Photos below taken by me.


Sufjan Stevens. The Olympia, Dublin, May 18, 2011.









Flaming Lips at the Forbidden Fruit Festival. Dublin, June 4, 2011.